Education and migration: insights for policymakers

Connections between migration and education are numerous, both at the macro and micro level. Recognizing this implies that educational policy as well as migration policy may generate spill-over effects, either in countries implementing the policies or in countries whose citizens may be concerned by them (or both). In an era of increased global connectedness, there is thus scope for the successful implementation of coordinated policies in the areas of migration and education. To tailor policies that work, however, a solid basis of evidence needs to be constituted, and theoretical predictions need to survive empirical examination from multiple contexts. This article provides an overview of the most important findings in the economics literature regarding the role of education in the migration-development nexus, emphasizing theoretical and empirical findings of interest for policymakers. The article will draw from multiple sources in the literature, including papers presented in the annual AFD/World Bank ’Migration & Development" conference. It intends to highlight the main findings regarding the role of education in the emigration decision, and in particular the issue of endogenous selection of migrants, but also the impact that migration has on the education of migrants and of non-migrants in both origin and destination countries. It will furthermore provide some stylized facts on the evolution of migrants’ skill composition around the world. Finally, the paper will provide a discussion on the challenges source and host countries face in implementing policies to tailor migration flows.